Amazon Swings To Loss, But Tops View; Stock Up 7%

(RTTNews) - Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) on Thursday reported a swing to loss in the first quarter, despite a 15 percent jump in revenues as the online retailer continues to splurge money on growth prospects. Loss for the quarter was better than what Wall Street anticipated, while sales trumped expectations.

The company also revealed for the very first-time revenues from its cloud services business, indicating an almost 50 percent growth. Investors reacted positively to the results, sending Amazon stock up by 7 percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq.

Seattle, Washington-based Amazon reported a first-quarter loss of $57 million or $0.12 per share, compared to last year's profit of $108 million or $0.23 per share. On average, 38 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $0.13 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Amazon's sales for the first quarter grew 15 percent to $22.72 billion from $19.74 billion a year ago. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $22.39 billion for the quarter.

Amazon posted a loss despite sales growth, as it continues to spend heavily on its online infrastructure and other projects. Investors have been somewhat tolerant of its losses as Amazon is perceived to be using its cash to prop up long-term growth.

Meanwhile, Amazon for the first-time ever disclosed the results of its cloud service division, the Amazon Web Services, since its creation in 2006. AWS revenues for the quarter increased 49 percent to $1.57 billion from $1.05 billion last year. AWS operating income rose to $265 million from 245 million last year.

"Amazon Web Services is a $5 billion business and still growing fast — in fact it's accelerating," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Born a decade ago, AWS is a good example of how we approach ideas and risk-taking at Amazon. We strive to focus relentlessly on the customer, innovate rapidly, and drive operational excellence."

Operating expenses for the quarter rose to $22.5 billion from $19.6 billion last year. Operating margin improved to 1.1 percent of worldwide sales from 0.7 percent last year, but lower than 2.0 percent reported for previous quarter.

Looking forward to the second quarter, the company expects sales of $20.6 billion to $22.8 billion. Analysts currently expect second-quarter revenues of $22.12 billion.

AMZN closed Thursday's trading at $389.99, up $0.19 or 0.05%. The stock further rose $27.96 or 7.17% in after-hours trade.